California authorities identify final unknown victim of ‘Happy Face Killer’ Keith Jesperson after 34 years
DNA testing confirmed Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter as the 'Happy Face Killer's' final unidentified victim, found along a California highway in 1992.
TL;DR
- Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter, previously identified only as 'Claudia,' is the final unknown victim of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson.
- McWhorter's body was discovered in 1992 along a California highway and has now been identified through DNA testing.
- The identification was made possible by connecting the victim to a maternal family member through genetic genealogy.
- Jesperson, the 'Happy Face Killer,' confessed to killing eight women and pleaded guilty to McWhorter's murder in 2010.
- The Riverside County cold case team has now closed its final unidentified victim case linked to Jesperson's murders.